Mandi is a village in the

Muzaffarnagar district Muzaffarnagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters. This district is the part of National Capital Region. History Medieva ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

, India. It is located about 200 km northeast of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. It is notable for the discovery and looting of an ancient

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the hei ...

by villagers in June 2000. The treasure is believed to have been from the

Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

period. It is known as "Mandi treasure" or "Mandy hoard".

2000 treasure discovery

Till 2000, a mound of mud used to exist on the border of the village. It was located on the 500 sq. m. property of Anil Kumar, who intended to level the land for cultivating

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

. He told the other villagers that they could remove the mud from the mound for their own use. In June 2000, three women villagers uncovered a copper urn containing gold ornaments, while scraping mud from the mound. On that day, Anil Kumar had gone out of the village to visit a sick relative. The three women started fighting over the treasure. The noise attracted the family of a landless labourer, who snatched the urn from the women. By the evening, other villagers were also seeking the treasure. A husband-wife duo uncovered another pottery urn containing and estimated 40 kg of bracelets and necklaces. Next, Anil Kumar's cousin and local strongman Sudhir came to the site with eight men, and uncovered more treasure. According to Anil Kumar's mother, who had fled to an adjacent sugarcane field after Sudhir pulled a gun on her, the men discovered around 60 kg of jewellery and three copper urns, also presumably filled with jewellery. Subsequently, the local transport chief and bus driver dug up an estimated 40 kg of gold. By the night, most of the 4,000 villagers had crowded around the plot, digging and fighting for treasure. The police arrived at around 10 pm. According to a villager Mahinder Singh, the police asked his son to Somi Singh to continue the digging. Somi Singh allegedly unearthed 35 kg of gold pieces and a golden

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and lever-action rifles on the ...

of a dagger, but was later arrested on the frivolous charges. According to the official records, only 10 kg of treasure was recovered by the district authorities. The authorities estimate that the villagers had uncovered around 500 kg of treasure. They offered the villagers double the market price for the ornaments. However, most of the treasure was sold to the local traders, who melted it. According to the experts from ASI and the Uttar Pradesh Department of Archaeology (DoA), the jewelry belonged to the Late Harappan period. It resembled the jewelry found at

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

(IVC) sites such as

Harappa Harappa (; Urdu/ pnb, ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a ...

Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Lothal Lothal () was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE. Archaeological Survey of ...

Rakhigarhi Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilisation in Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It was part of the mature ...

and

Dholavira Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is ...

in India.

List of artifacts recovered

The list of artifacts recovered by the district authorities is as follows:

References

{{Reflist Villages in Muzaffarnagar district Treasure troves of India Indus Valley civilisation sites

2000 treasure discovery

List of artifacts recovered

See also

References